In an era when conservation often feels like an uphill battle, one man’s extraordinary dedication has transformed more than 800 hectares of former farmland into the Western Cape’s newest ecological treasure.
The Mount David Nature Reserve, officially declared on 7 November, stands as a testament to what’s possible when passion meets persistence – a thriving sanctuary where critically endangered species once thought nearly extinct now call home.
What began as Diepgat farm in 2008 has undergone a remarkable metamorphosis under the stewardship of Antony van Hoogstraten, who spent nearly two decades systematically restoring what cattle and crops had claimed. Today, where livestock once grazed, pristine fynbos flourishes alongside crystal-clear wetlands and seeps, creating a haven that has already yielded stunning scientific discoveries – including a healthy breeding population of the elusive Moonlight Mountain Toadlet and a critically endangered Erica species previously thought to be on the brink of extinction.
“The declaration of Mount David forms part of the Western Cape’s growing network of protected areas, helping to conserve biodiversity, restore degraded landscapes, and strengthen the province’s ecological services that our nature provides. These ecological services are critical to the wellbeing of the province’s people and economy and include basic services from clean water and healthy soils to more complicated aspects of climate regulation and strengthening ecological corridors,” said Anton Bredell, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning.
CapeNature facilitates the legal administrative process to declare these sites as Protected Areas in terms of the National Environmental Management Protected Areas Act. The Nature Reserve was declared on 7 November this year. The negotiation and facilitation of the process have been implemented by Bionerds for the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), with support from CapeNature. Bionerds wrote the Protected Area Management Plan for this property independently of this project, and it was signed off in 2023.
In 2020, after months of lockdown, conservationists from Bionerds surveyed the neighbouring Maanschynkop Nature Reserve in the Overstrand, in search of the elusive Moonlight Mountain Toadlet (Capensibufo selenophos), a species listed as Data Deficient. Although the team found no trace of the toadlet there, a chance exploration of Diepgat’s upper slopes revealed a healthy, breeding population of the species thriving on the property.
Alouise Lynch, Director of Bionerds, helped to facilitate the process of getting Mount David declared as a provincial nature reserve, along with the EWT.
“Part of our project with the EWT was to work with landowners to find a formal mechanism to secure properties where we have found target frog species. We assessed Diepgat and presented on the biodiversity, ecological, and landscape importance of the property to CapeNature,” she said.
“To have recorded a new breeding locality for the Moonlight Mountain Toadlet was a special addition to the ecological diversity of this property, and to have a landowner who was committed to conservation through his actions, such that the ecosystems are in a near-pristine condition, is perhaps the greatest reward for anyone working with threatened species and habitats.”
This discovery highlights the ecological integrity of Diepgat and the impact of years of restoration work. It also opened the door to protected area recognition. Leopard, Klipspringer and Grey Rhebok, Black Harrier, Verreaux’s Eagle and Blue Cranes have also been documented on the property.
Shortly after the discovery of the Moonlight Mountain Toadlet, Bionerds met with the Van Hoogstraten family to discuss the possibility of making sure that their conservation efforts were secured through formal protection. The Van Hoogstraten family chose the name Mount David Nature Reserve.
To have land formally protected contact CapeNature’s Stewardship Team at wcpaes2025@capenature.co.za.
